Adjustable showerheads that discharge a number of different water modes, such as pulsating water pattern, a steady-stream pattern, bubble or oxygenated pattern, and an alternating pattern, for commercial and residential use are well-known. These showerheads typically include a stem, an internal disk assembly having a plurality of stacked disks, an outlet assembly with discharge openings, and an actuator that is engaged by an operator to adjust the discharge water pattern as desired. For example, the operator may rotate the actuator to vary the showerhead between a pulsating water pattern and a steady-stream pattern. The actuator is operably connected to a disk of the disk assembly, whereby the disk is rotated between various positions that correspond to the discharge water patterns.
Conventional showerheads suffer from a number of limitations that negatively affect their durability, performance and cost of manufacture. For example, conventional showerheads include a disk assembly with stacked disks that are prone to premature wear. This wear compromises operating performance, namely the quality and quantity of the discharge water patterns, during the life of the showerhead. The present invention is provided to solve these limitations and to provide other advantages and aspects not provided by conventional showerheads. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.